Making enemies out of friends Over the past 14 years (this will end in 2020), Mayor Patterson has had great success in making enemies out of friends. Her biggest achievement on this has been Valero. You know, that refinery in Benicia that has been called by many a very good neighbor? I have to give […]
Letter: Misplaced blame
Misplaced blame The Herald published a snide ad from Valero on Tuesday, unbecoming to a corporation, stooping to accusations of our city officials who work so hard to represent the electorate and assure us that the city is governed by good stewardship. There is no need to take on our Mayor, as though she alone […]
Kathy Kerridge: Working toward a local safety ordinance to keep Benicians safe, informed
Benicia is the only city in Solano County that is home to a refinery – and the only Bay Area refinery city left unprotected by a local Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO). Fortunately, the City of Benicia can learn from State and Contra Costa County expertise in order to develop and implement its own. The […]
Letters: Harold Bray and ISO
ISO town hall discussion panel tonight The city of Benicia is the only refinery town in the Bay Area not protected by an Industrial Safety Ordinance. In Contra Costa County, the Hazardous Materials Division of the Health Department is responsible for enforcing an ISO that governs the three refineries in the county’s unincorporated areas – […]
Letters: ISO and water woes
We need an ISO As a Benicia resident I found out about the May 5 Valero refinery near-catastrophic emergency shutdown and major flaring incident in real time, when I drove through the large black cloud of smoke looming over Interstate 680 which was headed directly toward the Suisun Marsh and the city of Fairfield. The […]
Letters: Submariners and ISO
Benicia needs an ISO As a long-time advocate for local measures and policies that aim to protect public health and safety, I urge everyone who shares this concern to attend the panel discussion, to be held this coming Tuesday, Nov. 14 at the Benicia Public Library, about what adoption of an Industrial Safety Ordinance [“ISO”] […]
Letters: LWV forum and ISO
Learn about open government at LWV forum Current local news and discussion is rife with concern about elected officials being “paid off” by corporate interests or wealthy donors. While our election system has some definite flaws, it does have required procedures and penalties for reporting campaign financing. Just last week, the Fair Political Practices Commission […]
The A Cappella Handyman: Readers & Writers
A first order of business: a large Thank You to Georgia T. Benedict of Benicia for her positive response to my column of last week, “Mad Dog & Bozos.” It’s always a pleasure to hear that somebody appreciates reading my column. We are a small town and this is a limited edition newspaper, but we […]
Stan Houston: The corn oil maze
The adage “Liars use statistics but statistics never lie” and other axioms that emphasize the use of statistics to support an argument that contrasts with prevailing truths and often obfuscates the bigger picture is well at work these days. Get a load of Mazola’s newest ad campaign hitting print and television over the past month. […]
Letters: ISO, cannabis and more
Why Benicia needs an ISO On Nov. 14, we all have a chance to learn more about the need for an Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO) for Benicia. At 7 p.m. there will be a panel discussion at the Benicia Library with experts from Cal/OSHA, Cal/EPA, and Contra Costa County ISO officials on why and how […]